Collect for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Thank you for joining me as we Lectio the Liturgy with the Collect for the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.

There aren’t very many doctrines that are harder to understand than the Trinity. Actually, there probably aren’t any that are harder to understand. I certainly won’t be able to help you it understand more, but my hope is to help you to appreciate what a gift the Trinity is.

God our Father, who by sending into the world the Word of truth and the Spirit of sanctification made known to the human race your wondrous mystery, grant us, we pray, that in professing the true faith, we may acknowledge the Trinity of eternal glory and adore your Unity, powerful in majesty. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

This is the only Sunday Collect in the Roman Missal that addresses God as Father. In the prayer, the Word of truth is the Son, and the Spirit of sanctification is the Holy Spirit.

The petition of the prayer is that we, who know in faith, acknowledge the Trinity and adore it’s Unity. This week’s Preface, the opening of the Eucharistic Prayer, tells us more. The prayer addresses the Father, “For with your Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit you are one God, one Lord: not in the unity of a single person, but in a Trinity of one substance.”

We proclaim it in the Creed, the Son is “consubstantial with the Father.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 267 reads: “Inseparable in what they are [the same substance], the divine persons are also inseparable in what they do. But within the single divine operation each shows forth what is proper to him in the Trinity, especially in the divine missions of the Son's Incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The more I thought about each person of the Trinity, the more thankful I became for each person of the Trinity. Why? Because I need all of God to complete all of me.

You and I need the unconditional love of Abba, Father. Our identity does not come from what someone else thinks about us. Our identity comes from who the Father says we are.
We need the Son. Jesus is our Redeemer, our Savior, our Healer. He is our example of how to live a Christian life.
We need the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, the breath of the Son. The Holy Spirit is the life of God within us.

Perhaps the greatest challenge of the Trinity isn’t trying to figure it out, but instead, falling in love and cherishing a relationship with each of its Persons.

This week, as you Lectio the Liturgy, begin with these words from the Preface, “That You might be adored in what is proper to each Person…” Spend some time in quiet prayer and ask yourself where you stand in your relationship with each member of the Trinity. Go through them one by one. What do you love about the Father? 

Who is the Father to you? Do the same for the Son and the Holy Spirit. Do you love the Father and the Son but are afraid of the Holy Spirit? Have you ever thought about Jesus as your Healer?

Ask the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit what they have to say to you and journal their response.

Thank you for praying with me,
Julie